Landskab med tre liggende og tre stående køer 1847

Johan Thomas Lundbye made this watercolor and pen landscape, featuring cows, in the 1840s. The thinness of the watercolor washes allows the paper to show through, creating a hazy, pastoral effect. Notice how the pen lines define the contours of the animals, contrasting with the soft tones of the sky and grass. Lundbye, who tragically died young, was a painter of the Danish countryside, attentive to its skies, vegetation, and of course its livestock. There is a subtle commentary at work here about the relationship between city and country, between the human and the animal, between culture and nature, and how all this relates to the modes of agricultural production. As the industrial revolution swept Europe, many artists like Lundbye, turned to the countryside as a subject, imbuing it with a kind of nostalgic meaning. They regarded rural labor, not as a business, but as something of a spiritual activity. It’s a perfect reminder that even the most unassuming images can open a window onto profound social issues.